Tomorrow is going to be the biggest day in Donny Robinson's life and, with the first Olympic gold medal in BMX at stake, he says whoever feels best on the day will make history.
"There are eight to 10 guys who could take that gold medal and they're all riding so fast right now," said the world No 1 rider, who turned pro in 2001 at the age of 18.
"I was training this morning and that's how I know how fast everyone is going. Whoever feels the best on the day will basically get it," he told China Daily.
"I'm feeling great right now," he added.
Donny Robinson of the United States clears a jump during qualifying for the UCI BMX Supercross race at the Olympic BMX course on Aug 20 last year in Beijing. [Getty images] |
Although the United States is favored to medal, its athletes face stiff competition from European champion Maris Strombergs of Latvia, two-time world champion Thomas Allier and several Australians.
Robinson checked into Beijing's Athlete's Village late last week with teammates Kyle Bennett and Mike Day.
Three-time world champion Bennett qualified by winning a national points race series and Day dominated at the Olympic trials to book his ticket. Robinson, who won last year's Good Luck Beijing pre-Olympic test event, gets to bunk with them as Team USA Cycling's third discretionary pick.
"We're all good friends. We hang out with each other at races all the time. There's no reason to change things here, even though it's the biggest race of our lives," he said.
"We always push each other, whether it's in the Village or on the track. We always one-up each other and do something, and that's where a lot of the fun comes from."
Not that he would be happy to settle for silver or bronze. With more money flooding into the sport and sponsors like McDonald's keen to attach themselves to a winner for years into the future, a gold medal is lucrative as well as prestigious.
The US riders have been preparing for the last seven months on a replica Olympic track back in Chula Vista, California, designed by former racer Tom Ritzenthaler, the same man who built Beijing's awe-inspiring course.
While the start ramp on the Olympic track is higher than normal, the banks steeper and the acceleration rate peaking at around 80 kph, the replica is even tougher.
"That doesn't give us too much of a heads-up though," said Robinson. "Many of the other riders have come over and tried out our track. You only need to ride it a few times to figure it out."
World No 5 Luke Madill of Australia even went as far as building a replica track in his own backyard, forking out $32,000 over six months to stay on a level playing field this week. Being paralyzed for three weeks after a horrific crash in 2006 did not deter him from competing in one of the Games' most dangerous sports.
Robinson said his win at last year's tune-up in Beijing means nothing now but conceded that he feels as comfortable as any foreign athlete here and says the city's traffic keeps him on his toes.
"It was just such a shock to come here last year. I mean I was by myself. It was crazy, you know, riding around the street. But, second time back, I feel a lot more comfortable. It's kind of like frogger out there, with all the cars, and it gives us more of a challenge."
While most athletes in the Village ride around on cheap local Jaspers, the three US teammates are more likely to be bunny hopping around the Peace Wall at night on their designer BMXs.
"We've just gotten some looks because we're the new kids on the block, and it should be pretty weird seeing us here. But we're just trying to bring some new flavor in here and see if we can't put on a show for everybody," he said.
That is exactly what the world is hoping for.
Preliminary heats for both the men and women begin at 9am today. Thirty-two men will enter the field and of those who make it to the quarterfinals, 16 will advance to tomorrow's semifinals.
Due to the smaller field of women in the sport, the women go straight from heats to semis. Both gold medal winners will be decided by 11 am tomorrow.